Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"Oh, Melliora! didst thou but know the thousandth Part of what this Moment I endure, the strong Convulsions of my warring Thoughts, thy Heart, steel'd as it is, and frosted round with Virtue, wou'd burst its icy Shield, and melt in Tears of Blood, to pity me."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: February 22, 1723

"I thought my heart was arm'd with adamant / Against remorse, but nature fools me now; / A faint cold shiv'ring seizeth every limb."

— Fenton, Elijah (1683-1730)

Date: 1745

"Imagination is the Paphian shop, / Where feeble Happiness, like Vulcan, lame, / Bids foul Ideas, in their dark recess, / And hot as hell, (which kindled the black fires,) / With wanton art, those fatal arrows form / Which murder all thy time, health, wealth, and fame."

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Date: 1745

"Wouldst thou receive them, other Thoughts there are, / On angel-wing, descending from above, / Which these, with art Divine, would counterwork, / And form celestial armour for thy peace."<

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Date: 1749

Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek authors "elevate the Mind, and steel and harden it against the capricious Invasions of Fortune."

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: 1758

"COME, Epictetus, arm my breast / With thy impenetrable steel, / No more the wounds of grief to feel, / Nor mourn, by others' woes deprest."

— Mulso [later Chapone], Hester (1727-1801)

Date: 1759

"Bid them ne'er remit / Their high heroic ardor;--let them know, / Whate'er shall fall on this old mould'ring clay, / The tyrant never shall subdue my mind."

— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)

Date: 1761

"Why then I thank thee, Nature, / That when you made this frame of such frail stuff, / So sensible of harm, so ill array'd / To combat sharp Misfortune, yet you cas'd / My Heart in temper'd steel, and made it proof / Against the soft compunctious stroke of Pity, / Bidding it laugh at all that Fat...

— Cumberland, Richard (1732-1811)

Date: 1799

"Their eyes are water! their hearts are brass! Kisses upon their lips! daggers in their hearts!"

— Render, William (fl. 1790-1801); Schiller (1759-1805)